General Guidelines
AgeFriendly.org allows users to contribute different kinds of content, including reviews, photos, votes, scores, and more. It isn’t difficult to treat other users and the administrators with dignity, but we wanted to enumerate a set of general guidelines to show how. Please also read the guidelines regarding the specific types of content that you might contribute to the site.
- Inappropriate content: AgeFriendly.org has a variety of users, so please keep the commentary PG-rated. Threats, harassment, lewdness, hate speech, and other displays of bigotry will not be tolerated.
- Conflicts of interest: Your contributions should be unbiased and objective. For example, you shouldn’t write reviews of other towns with the sole purpose of degrading or negatively influencing their score to make yours look better.
- Promotional content: We generally frown upon promotional commercial content. Let's keep the site useful for users and not overrun with commercial noise.
- Relevance: Please make sure your contributions are relevant and appropriate to the forum. For example, reviews aren't the place for rants about a political ideologies, extraordinary circumstances, or other matters that don't address the core of the citizen’s experience.
- Privacy: Don’t publicize other people’s private information. Please don’t post close-up photos of other people without their permission, and please don’t post other people’s full names unless you’re referring to a city-level administrator in their capacity as an elected official.
- Intellectual property: Don’t swipe reviews or photos from other people or post the same information for multiple locations.
Additional Guidelines
Review Guidelines
The best reviews are stories of what you’ve observed in the towns and neighborhoods you’re familiar with. They discuss in detail your experiences in the places you’ve lived, line up with the six domains use to judge age friendliness, and offer pieces or praise or ideas for improvement. Here are some additional thoughts for passionate reviewers.
Personal experience: We want to hear about the life you’ve lived in these towns and neighborhoods, not what you heard from your co-worker or significant other. Try to tell your own story without resorting to broad generalizations and conclusory allegations.
Accuracy: Make sure your review is factually correct. Feel free to air your opinions, but don't exaggerate or misrepresent your experience. We don't take sides when it comes to factual disputes, so we expect you to stand behind your review.
Review updates: Review updates should reflect a new experience or interaction with the city. Don't tell the same old story you've already told. If you'd like to add new insight to an old experience, just edit your review instead of creating a new update
Communication terms:
By submitting a review, users are acknowledging and accepting AgeFriendly.org terms of communication which includes but is not limited to email marketing communication.
Photo Guidelines
Town photos should be broadly relevant and reflect the user experience (e.g. what the neighborhood looks like, what it offers, etc)
User Profile Guidelines
Dont be shy. Use your account to let people know who you are abnd what makes you tick. Users want to read reviews from people they know and trust (not those with profiles that are empty or laced with inappropriate content).
Event Guidelines
Heard about a great event in the neighborhood? Great! Post it to the Events tab on AgeFriendly.org. Please don't use Events to post your recurring promotional announcements and sales. We also like to keep the content fresh, so please don't post events more than 6 months in advance.
City Administrator Guidelines
City and Town Administrators contribute to AgeFriendly.org in a huge way, too.
- City Description: You can use this section to tell people a little something special about your town. Please keep it relevant: don't use this feature to attack your neighbors, reviewers, or AgeFriendly.org.
- Public Comments: City administrators can also address issues publicly by posting a public comment. Don’t use public comments to launch personal attacks, advertise, or offer an incentive to change a review.
- Photos: Photos are a great way for administrators to promote their towns on AgeFriendly.org. Be as creative as you can, but please keep it clean. We're not big fans of imagery showing violence, drug use, nudity, near nudity, or suggestive acts. Also, please don't use your video to disparage other businesses, users, or AgeFriendly.org; request or solicit reviews from users or respond to user reviews.
Health Organization Guidelines
Health Organization Administrators contribute to AgeFriendly.org, too.
- Health Organization Description: You can use this section to tell people a little something special about your organization.
- Public Comments: Health Organization administrators can also address issues publicly by posting a public comment. Don’t use public comments to launch personal attacks, advertise, or offer an incentive to change a review.
- Photos: Photos are a great way for administrators to promote their health organizations on AgeFriendly.org. Be as creative as you can, but please keep it clean.